Blessed Realm

Peter Pan came to visit. I’m amazed that Haley was able to...

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:25:30 -0400

Peter Pan came to visit. I’m amazed that Haley was able to get Kevin to wear tights. She was Tinkerbell of course. Oct. 29, 2011

Kids having fun at GMas house at her Halloween / birthday party....

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:21:36 -0400

Kids having fun at GMas house at her Halloween / birthday party. Kevin appears to be having a good time. Oct. 30, 2011

Emily at a halftime competition at Mission Viejo HS. She really...

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:16:01 -0400

Emily at a halftime competition at Mission Viejo HS. She really loves marching band. Oct. 29, 2011

Me ‘n Mom at her annual Halloween party which was combined...

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:42:50 -0400

Me ‘n Mom at her annual Halloween party which was combined this year with Birthdays. Kevin turned 19, and as usual, Mom’s party was a lot of fun. Oct. 30, 2011

Kevin, Grandpa, and Luke. We were going to a church meeting...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:46:29 -0400

Kevin, Grandpa, and Luke. We were going to a church meeting from the looks of this picture, and I would guess it was around April or October 1998. We would often pick-up grandpa and take him with us.

Cassie’s latest action shot. She had twisted her ankle...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:43:31 -0400

Cassie’s latest action shot. She had twisted her ankle the previous week, but was still able to leap about. Unfortunately, her team lost, but it was an exciting game. They played on the U-16 field which was huge and took a lot or running. Oct. 1, 2011.

Me and best friend Mark at the end of our first solo backpacking...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:38:00 -0400

Me and best friend Mark at the end of our first solo backpacking trip. This was 1978, and I was 15 and Mark 16. We had talked out parents into letting us go on a 1 - week 50 miler in Sequoia Natl. park. It was huge fun, and easily the hardest thing I had done to that date. It was the Elizabeth pass loop. Photo taken in Lodgepole campground, June 1978.

Every year, we had a Christmas baby and this was Emily’s...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:35:09 -0400

Every year, we had a Christmas baby and this was Emily’s year (1996 based on how many teeth she has!). She was a very happy baby and so huggable! This was at Grandma Sally’s Christmas party.

Cassie and Luke having deep thoughts at the picnic….

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:27:00 -0400

Cassie and Luke having deep thoughts at the picnic….

While most of the clowns were pretty scary at the picnic, this...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:26:00 -0400

While most of the clowns were pretty scary at the picnic, this nice old lady was face painting. Cassie wanted to get decorated, and while it was certainly colorful, I think it was more Mardi-Gras than a butterfly. They get the geezers from one of the old folks homes to dress up and there was one particular old guy from last year who wouldn’t leave us along and kept wanting us to open his box that he was carrying around. He was there again this year and me, Cassie and Luke ran away. Sunday - Sept. 18, 2011

Today was OCFA’s annual picnic. Cassie and Luke went with...

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:22:00 -0400

Today was OCFA’s annual picnic. Cassie and Luke went with me, but Kevin had to work and Cyndi and Emily weren’t feeling well. It was awesome. It was held at the park next to Wild Rivers in Irvine, and may be the last time at that location since they want to build apartments there instead. Supposedly, they’re going to tear down the Wild Rivers, the park next to it where we were at, and Irvine amphitheater too. All to build more apartments! I’ve seen a lot of shows at Irvine amphitheater - most memorable RUSH several times.

In this picture, Luke and Cassie did the rock climb together. They did pretty good too. I should’ve taken a picture of the food tables because they were awesome too, and I did partake generously of the fine burgers, Polski’s, corn dogs, and all the associated wonderfulness that goes with. Sunday about noon, Sept. 18, 2011.

Cassie at goal in their first game of the season this morning....

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 16:04:43 -0400

Cassie at goal in their first game of the season this morning. She played really well and they won 8 - 5. Chapman field.

One of the cool Fire Trucks at the fire station. This one has a...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:10:46 -0400

One of the cool Fire Trucks at the fire station. This one has a 100’ ladder that needs an Engineer in the back - tiller - to steer the truck around corners. I’d like to do a ride-along with these guys in that truck one day. Sept. 11, 2011

Moment of silence at 9:06am which was the time (New York) that...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:07:00 -0400

Moment of silence at 9:06am which was the time (New York) that the first tower fell. There weren’t that many people at the ceremony, maybe 20 plus us. It was very nice though and important I think for our family to be there. Sept. 11, 2011

We went to Fire Station 17 in Cypress for a 10 - year memorial...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 12:50:33 -0400

We went to Fire Station 17 in Cypress for a 10 - year memorial service for those who died 9/11/2001. FS17 is the closest OCFA station (my employer), and they often come into our neighborhood since they do mutual aid to our part of Garden Grove. This is the station that also helped Grandma (who lives in Cypress about 1/2 mile from us) when she called 911 for Grandpa and also another time when her oven caught on fire. Nice guys and it is our newest station that just replaced their old one from 1951 or something like that. My staff worked a lot to get the radios, computers, and so forth installed and running. Sept. 11, 2011

Pacifica played a water polo tournament today at Santa Ana...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:44:00 -0400

Pacifica played a water polo tournament today at Santa Ana Valley High School. The school facilities were so much better than what Pacifica has. I don’t get it - we’re supposed to have a well-performing school, but the school is practically falling down and the pools are 40 years out of date. When Pacifica plays home games, we have to play at Los Alamitos military base at their awesome olympic pool since our facilities aren’t up-to-snuff. That is fun though as sometimes a jet rips by, or somebody is out practicing guns and stuff and you hear a .50 caliber machine gun going off. This is Luke’s last year in water polo. He’s a senior and we’ve really enjoyed going to the games for 6 - years with him and Kevin. The game was delayed an hour during the 2nd period because of thunder and lightning storms. On the way to the game at 7:15am, there was freak thunderstorm that dumped rain and hail!! We were on 405 south and everybody hit the breaks and started freaking out. It was fun. The hail was the size of marbles which is really, really unusual for around here. Kept getting lightning, so we had to get everyone out of the pool at one point. Not too safe in the water with nasty bolts of electricity falling out of the sky. Unfortunately, they lost both games, but Luke played really well. Sept. 10, 2011

Haley making sure Kevin is feeling OK. The rest of the kids are...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:40:58 -0400

Haley making sure Kevin is feeling OK. The rest of the kids are goofing around in the back ground. May be one of the last pix of Scott with his disciple look since he’s starting a new job and has to look presentable!! I like it and say go old school apostolic on ‘em. Sept. 4, 2011

Kevin, Emmy, and Cassie goofing around at the Beach at FHE...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:39:00 -0400

Kevin, Emmy, and Cassie goofing around at the Beach at FHE night. Lots of fun and nobody got hurt. Noland loaned us his families beach parking pass again - saved me $15. I think we’ll have to go halves with his family next year if they get one. Sept. 4, 2011

Emmy wanted to take a sunset picture, so we went to the beach...

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:36:00 -0400

Emmy wanted to take a sunset picture, so we went to the beach Monday night for FHE and while the clouds were not as dramatic as the previous night, we did get some fun shots. Had a few extras with us, Haley (Kevin’s girl friend), Nolan and Scott from next door and across the street. Fun times and we thought we would take a family shot. Bolas Chica State Beach, Sept. 4, 2011

Cassie and her cousin Kole are only about 3 months apart...

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:25:00 -0400

Cassie and her cousin Kole are only about 3 months apart age-wise (she’s younger). I’m so glad that my kids get to grow up with their cousins, and there’s a lot of them. When we tried moving away and living on the east coast in the late 1990’s, family is what I missed most. We were fortunate that my Dad’s brothers and sister lived close by to us in New Jersey, but I missed my mom and dad and immediate family. Mostly though, I didn’t want my kids growing up not knowing their cousins, so even though we had just watched our brand new home be built, then moved in, I dragged us all back to California. Cyndi supported the move, though I believe she truly loved New Jersey. I thought NJ was a great place to live with our house that was twice the size we have now, living in the country-side, New Jersians were great people, and the pizza was OMG (that’s oh my gosh) incredible. And can I say how much I miss the Pork roll’s!? Anyway, Cassie loves her cousin! Halloween 2009